Mr. Obama’s presidential campaign had the support of many in the gay rights community. But his administration has also been criticized by advocates for moving too slowly on issues like reversing the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military.

Regulatory Bills: On Capitol Hill, senators on both sides of the aisle are bracing for a showdown on legislation to overhaul the financial system. As The Times’s David M. Herszenhorn reports, Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, wants to bring the legislation to the floor next week. But Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate leader, is trying to band all 41 members of his caucus together to keep that from happening.

Finally, The Times’s Sewell Chan takes a look at what both sides actually want to do when it comes to changing the regulatory system. One point of agreement: no more taxpayer bailouts for large financial institutions. Beyond that, Mr. Chan writes that “both sides are actually in closer agreement on the basic approach than the heated rhetoric might suggest.”

Tea Party Takes the Stage: Tea Partiers may have been out in force on Tax Day, but, as The Times’s Kate Zernike reports, many still had a bad taste in their mouth from the recent health care debate.

The Washington Post’s Amy Gardner and Michael E. Ruane estimated that the rally in the nation’s capital attracted fewer people than the protests last Sept. 12. But, they found, the gathering still illustrated “that the ire and energy that have defined the Tea Party movement since it became a force last summer have not abated.”

Presidential Daybook: Both foreign and domestic issues are on the itinerary for the president today. In the morning, he travels to the Interior Department to deliver remarks at the White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors. After he returns, he is scheduled to meet with his national security team on Afghanistan and Pakistan. Later in the day, Mr. Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are set to meet with the president’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board.

On Thursday, Mr. Obama took on the future of mine safety and space exploration. A week and a half after 29 miners died in West Virginia, the president put most of the blame for the disaster on the mine’s owner, while also calling for strengthened safety laws. And in Florida, Mr. Obama said that NASA would have to rethink how and where it sends astronauts into space, even as he gave somewhat concrete goals for manned space exploration: Mars, for example, by the mid-2030s.

Judicial Roundup: As The Times’s Charlie Savage reported this week, the fight in the Senate over Goodwin Liu, an appeals court nominee, could foreshadow the reception that a more liberal nominee to the Supreme Court might receive. If that’s the case, get ready: The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing today on Mr. Liu’s nomination.

As Politico’s Kasie Hunt reports, Republicans on the panel had asked to delay the hearing, after receiving even more documents from Mr. Liu this week. Democrats, however, rebuffed that call.

The veto also seems to have cost Mr. Crist a campaign chairman, as former Senator Connie Mack has now resigned from that role.

Welcome to Washington: The House gained its newest member on Thursday: Ted Deutch, a Florida Democrat who won a special election on Tuesday. The Washington Post has an interview with Mr. Deutch, where he discusses, among other things, his desire to play basketball at the White House with the president.

President Obama drew criticism on Thursday when he said, “we don’t have a strategy yet,” for military action against ISIS in Syria. Lawmakers will weigh in on Mr. Obama’s comments on the Sunday shows.Read more…